I Voted In The Florida Primary
The early voting season got off to a sluggish start. I voted early at the Coral Gables Library. The only race on the ballot was presidential primaries. It was March 1, 2016 and there were no lines and only two people in the parking lot representing for the candidate of their choice.
Florida has a closed primary system. You need to be registered in the party to vote in their primary.
Registration in the parties is as follows 40% Democrat, 36% Republican, 20% No party affiliation with 4% minor parties.
In the 65 year old cohort 41% are Democrat, 40% Republican, 13% No Party Affiliation.
Lots of folks vote by absentee ballot. Many say it is more convenient to vote absentee. I disagree because I think folks ought to get up and get out and vote.
The folks with no party affiliation will not have a say in who will become the major party's candidate for the highest office in the land or if there are any contested primaries down the ballot. On one hand this disenfranchises a significant number of voters. At one time in my political life I felt the closed primary was anti-democratic because there were a lot of folks left out of the process.
As I have gotten older, the closed primary sounds bad but it keeps one party from trying to mess with the other party's process. (We have enough issues in Florida about voting as it is.)
The winner take all provision of the state law is also problematic in my way of thinking because the urban areas of they state are very different from the more rural areas of the state. South Florida candidates are really different from the pork choppers up north.
It was sad to see Marco Rubio have such a small turnout in Hialeah for what was thought to be a major political event for a favorite son who definitely needs to go all in and win in Florida.
Maybe the event should have been held in West Miami where he was elected a town councilman a long time ago. The guy is sitting United States Senator, you might think he would be more plugged in. The lack of advance work speaks volumes.
Florida has a closed primary system. You need to be registered in the party to vote in their primary.
Registration in the parties is as follows 40% Democrat, 36% Republican, 20% No party affiliation with 4% minor parties.
In the 65 year old cohort 41% are Democrat, 40% Republican, 13% No Party Affiliation.
Lots of folks vote by absentee ballot. Many say it is more convenient to vote absentee. I disagree because I think folks ought to get up and get out and vote.
The folks with no party affiliation will not have a say in who will become the major party's candidate for the highest office in the land or if there are any contested primaries down the ballot. On one hand this disenfranchises a significant number of voters. At one time in my political life I felt the closed primary was anti-democratic because there were a lot of folks left out of the process.
As I have gotten older, the closed primary sounds bad but it keeps one party from trying to mess with the other party's process. (We have enough issues in Florida about voting as it is.)
The winner take all provision of the state law is also problematic in my way of thinking because the urban areas of they state are very different from the more rural areas of the state. South Florida candidates are really different from the pork choppers up north.
It was sad to see Marco Rubio have such a small turnout in Hialeah for what was thought to be a major political event for a favorite son who definitely needs to go all in and win in Florida.
Maybe the event should have been held in West Miami where he was elected a town councilman a long time ago. The guy is sitting United States Senator, you might think he would be more plugged in. The lack of advance work speaks volumes.
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